Lug strap and method of making the same



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LUG STRAP AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Oct. 28, 19293Sheets-Sheet l Fig 1.

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May 23, 1933. H. E. WILSON LUG STRAP AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME FiledOct. 28, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 -lnvenTor. HerberT E.Wilson ATTys.

Patented May 23, 1933 UNITED STATES HERBERT n. WILSON, or ANTRIM, NEWHAMPsHmn LUG STRAP AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Application filedOctober 28, 1929. Serial No. 402,848.

This invention relates to lug straps for looms and it, has for one ofits objects to provide a novel method of making a lug strap by which anarticle twithi superior wear qualities may be produced and an-.

other object of the invention is to provide a novel lug strap havingsuch superior wear qualities.

Lug straps are and one way commonly employed in making lug straps ofthis material is to apply glue or some adhesive to a piece ofduck,canvas or other material and then roll this glued piece into the form ofa roll. The roll is then put in a press and subjected to heavy pressureto compact the various plies and to so shape the roll that it has acrosssectional shape such as desired for the completed lug strap. Thearticle is then taken from the press and laid on a drying rack until theglue is partially dry. It is then removed from the drying rack and Ibent into the U shape necessary for the lug strap and such U shape beingpreserved until the glue becomes thoroughly dry by placing the lug strapin suitable forms. 7

The bending of the roll into the U shape after the glue has partiallyset is detrimental because it is apt to reduce the adhesive propertiesof the glue. Most kinds of glue will assume a more or less crumblynature if disturbed when it is partially set and if glue of this natureis used in the making of a fabric lug strap the bending of the roll intothe U form will tend to cause the glue to crumble so that it loses muchof its efficiency in binding the layers of cloth together and as aresult the lug strap is weakened at the bend, which is the point whereit should be of maximum strength. A I

In carrying out my invention I propose to roll the glue saturated clothup into the form of a roll and while the glue is still warm and beforeit has cooled I place the roll in a press adapted to mold or shape theroll into the form of a lug strap. I The: press is designed to applyheavy pressure to the article and this pressure is maintained'until theglue has become cool and has firmly set.

Since all of the molding operation is acfrequently made of fabricportion of the mold;

complished while the glue is warm and before it has begun to'set thisoperation is carried out'without in any way detracting fromthe adhesiveproperties of the glue. The result is that a lug strap made according tomy improved method will have its maximum str'engththroughout and thuswill have an increased length of life, this being due to a considerableextentto the fact that the lug strap is given its permanent shape 69before it is taken from'the pressand there is no disturbing of the glueafter it begins to set. i g

In making my lug strap I'may, if de sired, place a reinforcing piece ofmetal in the center of the roll and make the lug strap With anadditional layer or layers of'cloth around the bend thereof therebyimporting into the lug strap additional strength .at the points where itis most needed.

In order to'give an understanding of the I invention I have illustratedin' thedrawings some selected embodiments thereof and'some of the stepsof the method by which it may be made. I v

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating" the operation of rolling uplayers of canvas or cloth into the form of a roll from which the lugstrap may be made; V

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of'the roll completed; 7 V

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a leatherreinforcing member which is putin the bend of the lug strap to receivethe wear of the picker stick; a

Fig. 4 is a more or less diagrammatic view" illustrating the pressin'open position and showing the unmolded lug-strap therein,the top andbottom plates of the press being 7 omitted from said view;

Fig. 5 shows the press closed withthe'lug strap molded therein, the topand bottom plates of the press being omitted for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of thecomplete lug strap;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77, Fig. 6;

Fig. 8- is a section on the line 8+8,- I ,ig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentaryview of the core Fig. 10 is a view through themold taken on the line 1010, Fig. 5;

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating the formation of areinforcedlug strap;

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating the press adapted tomake the reinforced lug strap, said press being shown in closed positionwith the lug strap therein;

Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing the reinforced lug strap; 7

Fig. 14 is a section on the line'14.-14, Fig. 13'

This lug strap is of the usual U shape, it 7 having the two arms 2connected by the bridge portion 3, the arms being provided with theusual slots 4:. The bendof the lug strap which receives wear from thepicker stick is faced with a leather facing 5 and preferably the bridgeportion 3 will be formed with a slight convex surface on its inner faceas shown at 6.

The lug strap is made from a roll 7 of fabric, such as canvas or. duck,the roll being made by rolling up one or more sheets of glue-soakedfabric. As shown in Fig. 1 the roll is made from two sheets 8 and 9 ofsome suitable fabric, each of which is coated with glue as shown at 10These sheets are placed one on the other and then are rolled up from oneedge as shown at 1 thereby to produce the roll 7 The glue or adhesive 10which isused will preferably be of the kind which will be liquid. whenhot but will begin to set as it starts to cool.

The glue or adhesive 10 is applied while hot to the fabric sheets 8 and9 and they are then immediately rolled up into the roll form shown inFig. 2. As soon as the roll is formed it is placed in a press whichmolds it to the shape ofthe lug strap desired and at the same timeplaces it under heavy compression, the pressure being maintained untilthe glue has set.

WVhile. any suitable press suitable for carrying out this work may beemployed I have, for the purpose of this application, illustrated apress comprising a core member 11 about which theroll 7 is bent andmovable press members 12, 13," 14 which co-operate with the core member11 to give the roll its lug strap shape. The member '12 is provided witha pressing face 15 which corresponds in shape to the exterior face ofthe bridge 3." The press members 13 and let-are shown as hinged to. themember 12 at 16 and are adapted to foldtoward the core member 11. 1 7 lFig. 4: shows the press open and in position to receive the roll 7L Atthe time the roll is put in the press there will be added the leatherfacing piece 17 which forms the leather facing 5 of the lug strap. Thispiece 17 is shown as having chamfered ends 18 and as placed in the pressbetween the members 11 and 12. With the roll 7 and lining member 17 inposition shown in Fig. 4.- the press will be closed, and during suchoperation the members 11 and 12 are moved toward each other and the wingmembers 13 and 14 are closed up toward the core member 11 as shown inFig. 5.

This operation molds the roll 7 and facing piece '17 into the shape ofthe lug strap! asshown in Fig. 5. .Th'is molding ofthe lug strap isaccomplished while the glue is hot andv before it has cooled or hasbegun to set.

-The press is designed to apply heavy pressure to the roll and thus itgives to the lug strap the desired shape as shown in Fig. 6. Thepressure is maintained until the glue has cooled and setso thatthere isno disturbing of the glue or of the fabric or any other part of the lugstrap during the cooling or settingoperation. It will be understood, ofcourse, that Figs. 4 and 5 show merely the side elements of the mold.

end with the side recesses 22 and at its end it is slightly concave asshown at 23', Fig. 9.

The result of this conformation is that when the lug strap is completeditwill have the convex faces 24 on the sides .adjacent'the bridge 3 andsaid bridge will also have the convex inner face 6. The advantage of"these convex facesis that they accommodate themselves to the rockingaction of the picker stick and are'less subject to wear dur ing use thanstraight faces would be.

The latter will include also top and'bottom In Figs. 11 to 13 I haveillustrated howi-i the. invention may be employed in making a reinforcedlug strap. The lug strap herein shown, which is indicated at 25, has a'metal' core 26 extending'around the U portion thereof, but terminatingshort of the-.1 "v

slotsfi. This lug strap is also provided with added thicknesses ofclotharound the U'portionthereof.

.In making. this lug strap two or more .core member 26 is formed from apiece f of layers of cloth 27-, 2S which are coated with? strap metal 30which ispreferably slightly shown in Fig.11 and then they are rolledupiintoroll formation Such roll formationwill have a metal coreCOIHPIlSlHg. the

number of plies or layers at the center than longer than thelreinforcing piece 'The" parts are superposed;- one on. the other as Fmetal member 30 and .will have. a. greater at the ends due to thepresence of the reinforcing fabric 29.

IVhile the glue 31 which is applied to the faces of these layers offabric is still hot and before it has had time to set the roll is placedin the press and molded into the desired form, such mold beingillustrated in F ig. 12 and comprising the central core portion 32 andthe three mold members 33, 34 and 35 that are pivoted together are shownat 36. These mold members co-operate in the same way as described withreference to the mold members 12, 13 and 14. Where the extra reinforcinglayer 29 is used to provide added thickness of cloth at the bend of thelug strap I propose to recess the inner faces of the mold members 35, 36as shown at 37 to accommodate this extra thickness.

A lug strap made in this way will have the central metal core 26 whichextends around the U and substantially to the slots 4 and will also havearound the U portion the added thickness of fabric. This added thicknessdoes not extend quite to the end of the metal reinforcing member but itgives added strength and reinforcement to the portion of the lug strapwhich is subjected to the severest wear.

In all forms of the invention the roll is molded into the final shape ofthe lug strap while the glue is still warm and before it has begun toset and is then subjected to heavy pressure, which pressure ismaintained while the glue is drying and setting. There is, therefore, nomovement of any part of the lug strap while the glue is cooling orsetting and the latter will maintain its full adhesive efficiency.

It will be noted that the mold or press is so shaped as to form a lugstrap in which Y the bridge portion 3 is straight transversely. In otherwords, the inner face of this bridgeportion 3, which is the face thatacts against the picker stick, is straight in the direction of itslength and thus will'fit flatly against the picker stick. This is adecided advantage as it reduces the wear on the lug strap.

The important thing about my invention is that the fiat face with whichthe picker stick has engagement is secured without the use of a plug inthe bend of the strap. It is a more or less common practice to placesuch a plug in the curve of the strap to provide the flat face, theseplugs being generally riveted in position. My invention provides a fiatface and a lug strap which has long life without the labor and expensemvolved in riveting the plug in the lug strap.

I claim.

1. The improvement in the art of making a lug strap which consists inrolling a plurality of superposed layers of fabric in hot glue to form aroll, placing on one side of the roll at the central portion thereof amaintaining the layers of fabric and leather.

under pressure in an undisturbed condition during the entire time thatthe glue is setting.

2. A lug strap for looms having a general U shape and provided withslots at the ends of its arms, said lug strap being made of a pluralityof plies of fabric adhesively united under pressure, there being agreater number of plies at the U portion thereof than in the arms, theinner face of the closed end of the strap being at substantially rightangles to the inner faces of the arms of the strap and the inner face atthe bow end of the lug strap being convex and said lug strap having asingle metallic core extending around the U portion or how end centrallythereof, the ends of the metallic core terminating between the bow endof the strap and the slots in the arms. 7

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

HERBERT E. WILSON.

